A gas turbine engine generally includes, in serial flow, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section and an exhaust section. In operation, air enters an inlet of the compressor section where one or more compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section through a hot gas path defined within the turbine section and then exhausted from the turbine section via the exhaust section.
It is generally desirable to increase temperatures in the combustion section and turbine section to provide for a higher efficiency operation of the gas turbine engine. However, it may be difficult for certain components within, e.g., the combustion section and the turbine section, to withstand such elevated temperatures. Accordingly, ceramic matrix composite (“CMC”) materials are of particular interest for use in gas turbine engines, as such components are generally better able to withstand the higher operating temperature sought after. CMC materials typically include a ceramic fiber reinforcement material embedded in a ceramic matrix material.
However, it may still be beneficial to ensure the CMC materials remain below a temperature threshold for useful life and function. Thus, a component formed substantially of a CMC material capable of better managing the thermal properties of such component would be useful. More specifically, a component formed of a CMC material having one or more attributes in the component that allow for management of the local thermal gradients would be particularly useful.